Mia cocked her head. “I just have one question.”
Uh-oh. Here it came. The big one that would send our newfound peace and good feelings swirling down the toilet.
Even so, she was allowed to express her opinion, no matter what. We loved each other, and we’d figure it out.
I licked my lips nervously. “Shoot.”
“I’m pretty athletic and all, but how in the hell do you slide down a stripper pole?”
I laughed so hard that I started to choke. Then I grabbed her and kissed her dead on the mouth. “Don’t ever change. Not even a little.”
“Too late. It’s already happened,” she said with a crooked smile.
A few minutes later, the guys came back in, and Dante said his goodbyes. Fox and Mia soon took off too, leaving Gio and I alone.
“I choose you.” He stared at me without closing the distance between us. “I always did, but I couldn’t allow myself to admit it. My God, I felt so guilty.”
My eyes filled. “Because of Emilia.”
“Yes.” He took a few steps closer. “But I can’t turn away from you any longer. From now on, you will be my choice. Always.”
For the first time since I’d met him, I had absolutely no idea what to say. I was too emotional to speak.
“This is my fault.” He stepped right up to me, making me look up at him. I couldn’t look away. “All of it. I led you to the club that night in the spring, and I tried to push you away, even though I never wanted to.”
“You had your reasons,” I managed.
“Yeah, I did, and I let my love for Emilia and my need for vengeance cloud my judgment to the point that I didn’t have any anymore.” He grasped my hands and brought them to his mouth. “For two and a half years, killing Emilia’s father because I believed he’d killed her was all I cared about. Then there was you, and suddenly, I didn’t want to die anymore.”
I blinked back the heat in my eyes. “You wanted to die?”
“I never thought of it that way, but I guess you could say I had a death wish. I’d lost so much. The woman I was going to marry, the baby she’d just found out she was carrying—” He broke off and stared hard at my stomach. “But she’s gone, and nothing I can do will bring her back. I don’t want to check out anymore. I want this life.” He linked his arms around my waist. “I want what we can be, you and me. I’m not entirely sure what that is yet, but I want to find out.”
“I do too,” I whispered.
“I’m not going to go near The Pyramid Club or the Andrettis anymore. I’m not sure if they’ll let me walk away clean, but because I never harmed anyone in their organization, maybe. I’m damn sure going to try.”
My tears spilled over as I lifted my face to his. “Trying is plenty.” I sniffled. “I still have my throwing stars and pepper spray too.”
I’d found my purse, contents mostly intact, on the way out of the warehouse. The only thing that had been missing was my condom stash. Since I wouldn’t be needing those for the foreseeable future, the thugs were welcome to them. No glove, no love, right?
Well, except in my case.
Gio laughed. ?
?You’re a badass. My brother told me what you did to my father.”
“I’m sorry you lost him. Even though he was a bastard.”
“He killed Emilia, and my mother. God, part of me wondered, but I never let myself think it for long. I wanted to believe he had a limit, and he just…didn’t.” He bowed his head. “Christ, all this time, my vendetta was aimed at the wrong person.”
“If it’s any consolation, I don’t think the Andrettis are saints either,” I said drily.
He didn’t smile, but close. Considering everything he’d endured recently, I’d take it.
“I’m so sorry, baby,” I murmured. “There aren’t words.”
“You aren’t the only one who is sorry.” His expression darkened. “I’m so sorry that you had to go through all of that.”